Promotion Tool for Hoteliers
Hotel promotions are crucial in driving sales and increasing revenue for hotels. By offering discounts, deals, and packages, hotels can attract more customers and encourage them to book rooms at their property.
- Platform: Desktop-web
- Timeline: August 2019
- Role: Product Designer (End-to-end)
THE BRIEF
Background.
Why promotion?
Hotel promotions are crucial in driving sales and increasing revenue for hotels. By offering discounts, deals, and packages, hotels can attract more customers and encourage them to book rooms at their property. This can also help increase the hotel's competitiveness in the market,
as customers are more likely to choose a property with attractive promotions. Additionally, hotel promotions can help fill up empty rooms during slow periods, which can help maximize revenue for the hotel.
THE BRIEF
Hotelier's Problems
When hotels are looking to cut prices for their accommodations, they may be tempted to simply adjust their price settings on Traveloka, rather than using the platform's promotional tools to offer discounts or special deals. While this approach may be effective in lowering the prices of their rooms, it may not provide the additional exposure that hotels can get by using the promotional tools available on Traveloka.
THE BRIEF
Positive Side Effect
When more hoteliers make promotions in Traveloka, customers will likely perceive that Traveloka has offered affordable prices for their accommodations. This can be a positive side effect for Traveloka, as it can attract more customers looking for good hotel room deals.
Getting to Know What's the Objective
Gather all our assumptions and hypothesis, what's the possible problem, possible solution, also the question.
Research Objective
Who are the customers?
What are their needs, expectations,
frustrations?
To identify how hotels can (1) understand the different promotional tools that are available for them on Traveloka and (2) use these tools effectively in order to attract more customers and increase their exposure on the platform.
What is the promotion setting today?
What are the gaps in the existing
promotion versus desired
promotion setting?
How do hotels see the value of using promotional tools?
Key Research Questions
Research Objective
Who are the customers?
What are their needs, expectations,
frustrations?
To identify how hotels can (1) understand the different promotional tools that are available for them on Traveloka and (2) use these tools effectively in order to attract more customers and increase their exposure on the platform.
What is the promotion setting today?
What are the gaps in the existing
promotion versus desired
promotion setting?
How do hotels see the value of using promotional tools?
Assumption Dumption
Individually, list down all assumptions that you have about the problem you are working on; the user’s traits, and the business needs - basically all perceptions and ideas of the issues at hand.
User Research
Getting to know, and also validate our assumptions and hypothesis to hoteliers.
Who is the user
Hoteliers with specific classification on hotel personas, all hotel participants in the sample are from Jakarta. The research was conducted over the last 3 months.
Conduct
In-depth Interviews w/ Hoteliers
We visit the hotels and observe what actually happened. How is the process of reservation? What kind of discussion during make a plan and strategy of hotel pricing.
Conduct
Expert Interviews w/ Market Managers
Getting to know what actually happened with the market manager and hotel operation during communication with hoteliers if any inquiry os assistance for hotel promotion.
Behind the process before conduct user research
Call one by one from the candidate list to get to know the availability and meeting arrangement
Arrange the meeting schedule. Include meeting time, preparation, commuting, and also break time (that's also important 😅)
Prepare for the interview guideline, the questions, the rundown, and the checklist.
Stimuli - Experience Harvesting
In the discovery process, stimuli are used to do Experience Harvesting as one of the methods to collect insights.
*so sorry if you hard to see clearly to this image. I hope it still can help to imagine what I'm doing. ✌🏻
Synthesizing the Data
The data needs to be synthesized to derive
meaningful insights.
Summary of Research Findings #1
0 to 2 stars hotel
Hoteliers don't aware about the promotion tool, they only understand about the price settings in TERA Traveloka.
🙈🚫 [Very dangerous]
They only understand how to reducing the original price, instead of creating other promotion methods such as:
- Last minute booking
- Early booking
- Free nights,
- or Just a basic discount
They don't have someone or specific role who expert in pricing and promotion strategies.
One employee may have multiple positions.
Don't have a dedicated position who handle it.
They are depends on market manager and hotel operation assistance when create a promotion.
They have not been able to make promotions independently
Hoteliers are understand of benefit applying promotion in Traveloka. Better presence to the Traveloka customer.
Summary of Research Findings #2
3 to 4 stars hotel
Lower promo tool usage
Hoteliers are aware simply add a basic promotion or add a discount to reduce the original price.
This should be better rather than directly reducing the original price.
Hoteliers are understand of benefit applying promotion in Traveloka. Better presence to the Traveloka customer.
They don't have someone or specific role who expert in pricing and promotion strategies.
One employee may have multiple positions.
Don't have a dedicated position who handle it.
[Same with 0 to 2 stars hotel]
They are able to create a basic promotion.
But in under certain conditions, hoteliers will get assistance from hotel operations if any recommendation of promotion program aligned with Traveloka campaign.
Summary of Research Findings #3
3 to 4 stars hotel
Higher promo tool usage
Hoteliers are aware to create various promotion settings.
Such as:
- Last minutes booking promo
- Free night(s) promo
- Early bird promo
They have specific roles as an expert in pricing and promotion strategies.
[Different with 0 to 2 & 3-4 (lower usage) stars hotel]
Hoteliers are independent to create promotions, not really need more assistance from the market manager or hotel operation.
Hoteliers are understand of benefit applying promotion in Traveloka. Better presence to the Traveloka customer.
Summary of Research Findings #4
5 stars hotel
Hoteliers are aware to create various promotion settings.
Such as:
- Last minutes booking Promo
- Free night(s) Promo
- Early bird Promo
Also, they have more complex condition promo. More details, and more targeted segments.
They have specific roles as an expert in pricing and promotion strategies.
[Different with 0 to 2 & 3-4 (lower usage) stars hotel]
Hoteliers are independent to create promotions, not really need more assistance from the market manager or hotel operation.
Hoteliers are understand of benefit applying promotion in Traveloka. Better presence to the Traveloka customer.
Recommendations
✨
TERA Traveloka should provide simple promotion presets, so all hoteliers can apply and adjust easier.
✨
Easy to use, easy to understand. Give spaces or steps, so that the user can read properly.
✨
For some hotels, more advanced promotion settings are likely to be used, following they have a more targeted segment.
Also, 3 to 4 and 5 stars who highly use the promotion tool, will have better plans, and more complex promo specs.
✨
Give the overview of the final price after applying the promotion to their inventories.
How it looked like of their hotel room in the Traveloka app or website if they applied for the promotion.
✨
Give a step to review the promotion by hoteliers. So it will reduce the mistake.
#
DIVERGE AND CONVERGE
Pros
Booking.com can do guest classification such as, if the promotion is for everyone or if only for a selected or specified guest.
Cons
There are so many fields, regardless they will be used or not.
We have been doing a benchmarking analysis
To understand what's good, and what needs to improve. We focused on promotion creation flow on Booking.com hotel extranet.
Prototype of Advanced Promotion Settings
✨
For some hotels, more advanced promotion settings are likely to be used, following they have a more targeted segment.
Also, 3 to 4 and 5 stars who highly use the promotion tool, will have better plans, and more complex promo specs.
Prototype of Advanced Promotion Settings
✨
For some hotels, more advanced promotion settings are likely to be used, following they have a more targeted segment.
Also, 3 to 4 and 5 stars who highly use the promotion tool, will have better plans, and more complex promo specs.
Prototype of Advanced Promotion Settings
✨
For some hotels, more advanced promotion settings are likely to be used, following they have a more targeted segment.
Also, 3 to 4 and 5 stars who highly use the promotion tool, will have better plans, and more complex promo specs.
Prototype of Advanced Promotion Settings
✨
For some hotels, more advanced promotion settings are likely to be used, following they have a more targeted segment.
Also, 3 to 4 and 5 stars who highly use the promotion tool, will have better plans, and more complex promo specs.
Review the Promotion
✨
Give the overview of the final price after applying the promotion to their inventories.
How it looked like of their hotel room in the Traveloka app or website if they applied for the promotion.
✨
Give a step to review the promotion by hoteliers. So it will reduce the mistake.
Prototype of Early Bird Promotion Settings
✨
TERA Traveloka should provide simple promotion presets, so all hoteliers can apply and adjust easier.
Prototype of Last Minute Booking Promotion Settings
✨
TERA Traveloka should provide simple promotion presets, so all hoteliers can apply and adjust easier.
